Downtown Partners exits Comcast SportsNet pitch

Downtown Partners/Chicago has exited the Comcast SportsNet Chicago review now underway to find a new agency to work on an ad campaign promoting the cable sports channel's on-air talent. CSNC reportedly is asking participating agencies to sign an agreement prior to even doing a final presentation for the business. That agreement, among other things, would require the shops to be responsible for any lawsuits that could surface in connection with work or ideas from the pitches or any new campaign eventually used by the cable sports channel. Downtown Partners balked at that demand. But at least one of the agencies involved in the pitch, believed to be the Chicago office of Jacobson Rost, has apparently signed on the dotted line anyway. Times are tough in the ad biz, after all. CSNC marketing honcho Jaclene Tetzlaff could not be immediately reached for comment. She previously indicated she hoped to select an agency for the project by mid-August.